Marvel Studios Unveils ‘Phase 4’ Film and TV Roadmap

Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feigi finally unveiled the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s phase 4 roadmap at SDCC 2019. He was of course, surrounded by most of the major cast members appearing in these projects.

Unlike previous MCU ‘phase’ announcements however, the new slate includes television projects under the Disney+ streaming service. With Disney now having their own platform, they have much more control with the production and marketing.

The roadmap includes five films and five Disney+ television series spanning May 2020 up to November 2021.

Which Marvel Cinematic Universe Films are Coming in 2020?

The first movie is going to be Black Widow premiering on May 1st next year. This will be a solo prequel starring Scarlett Johansson and is directed by Cate Shortland. This movie will finally reveal what happened in Budapest which both Black Widow and Hawkeye keep referencing in previous Avengers films. Feigi also showed an exclusive trailer including a fight scene at SDCC 2019, although this is not available online yet.

The next movie will be The Eternals which is one of legendary comic book creator Jack Kirby’s creations. The Eternals are essentially a divergent group of human-like species who were created by the the Celestials alongside humans and a third race called Deviants.

The major difference being that the Eternals are immortal (thus the name) and possess various superpowers. The Celestials are ancient cosmic gods, seen initially in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Although it was as a planet-sized severed head (“Knowhere”) being mined for resources. This movie will premiere on November 6th, 2020 and will star Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Bryan Tyree and more.

Which Marvel Cinematic Universe Films are Arriving in 2021?

The third film will be Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings and will premiere on February 12, 2021. This will have Canadian actor Simu Liu playing the title role who is a martial arts master. The film will also star Awkwafina in an undisclosed role, as well as Tony Leung who is most likely going to be playing ‘The Mandarin’. The ‘Ten Rings’ in the title is of course, a reference to the notable Iron Man comic-book villain.

Following Shang-Chi will be Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness on May 7th, 2021. This will see Benedict Cumberbatch reprise the title role and Scott Derickson returns as the director. This movie will apparently be unique in that it will be the MCU’s first horror film.

Lastly, the 5th film in the slate is Thor: Love and Thunder on schedule for November 5th, 2021. This one will also be different from previous movies as Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) will be wielding Thor’s magical hammer Mjolnir. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson will also be reprising their characters Thor and Valkyrie, respectively. Also returning is Thor: Ragnarok (2017) director Taika Waititi.

Which Marvel Television Shows are Coming to Disney+ in 2020?

Just like their film schedule, Marvel has also worked out much of their 2020 – 2021 television series lineup. This starts with The Falcon and The Winter Solider starting in Fall 2020. It will be the only show premiering next year and will have Anthony Mackie as well as Sebastian Stan reprising the titular characters respectively. Also part of this series is Daniel Bruhl, who played Zemo, who took down the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War (2016).

What TV Shows Can We Expect in 2021?

However, 2021 will see four shows premiere. Two of which will be for spring, one for the summer and one for fall. The first ones will be WandaVision, as well as Loki. These ones require some explaining as they are technically dead (except for Wanda) in the current MCU timeline. It will still apparently take place after Avengers: Endgame (2019) and will also feature an adult Monica Rambeau. She is the young daughter of Maria Rambeau from Captain Marvel (2019) which was set in the 90’s, now an adult.

According to Kevin Feigi, this show is “unlike anything” Marvel has done before. “It’s gonna get weird, we’re gonna go deep,” says Elizabeth Olsen who plays Wanda Maximoff. “we’re gonna have lots of surprises and we’re going to finally understand Wanda Maximoff as the Scarlett Witch“

Meanwhile, Tom Hiddleston will be returning in Loki. This is apparently not the dead Loki from Avengers: Infinity War (2018) but the Loki who stole the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame (2019). This provided him with the ability to open a portal anywhere in the universe, so it will make for an interesting series. Hiddleston and Feigi also confirmed that it fits with the MCU timeline and will explain it in the series.

The fourth title is “What If?”, an animated series with Geoffrey Wright voicing The Watcher. Like the comic book series of the same name, it will feature alternate reality variants of existing Marvel characters. Actual MCU actors will be lending their voices to play their characters as well. This will premiere on summer 2021.

Lastly, the final series for fall 2021 is Hawekeye. This will have Jeremy Renner training Kate Bishop. She is a younger character who will be taking over the Hawkeye mantle. Other than Renner, no other casting details are available yet.

What About Marvel Projects After 2021?

Other than what is on the roadmap image, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feigi also confirms that Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Captain Marvel 2 are on the way. Blade will also be returning with Mahershala Ali in the title role. Although there is no firm timeline yet for these other films.

Also, perhaps the biggest reveal is that there definitely is a Fantastic Four movie on the horizon, and Feigi also hints at the arrival of the X-men to the MCU. See for yourself from the SDCC footage via Films That Rock below:

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